Horror novelist Robert R. McCammon likes to
write at night. At night he is more frightened and, he claims,
this makes his novels more frightening. Born in Birmingham, McCammon
attended Banks High and then the University
of Alabama. He discovered his love for writing when he had
to read one of his stories in speech class at Banks. The students
were mesmerized, and McCammon was hooked.

He has produced 13 novels and numerous short
stories. Inspired by his grandfather's ghost stories and the
horror films of his youth, McCammon has published Swan Song,
Stinger, Mystery Walk, and Usher' Passing. His bestsellers
include Baal and They Thirst, which have also sold
in Greece, Italy, Spain, and Mexico. Gone South (1992)
was his most mainstream work, and McCammon attempted to turn
away from the horror genre for a time. He also took some time
off to help his wife Sally, an elementary school teacher, raise
their young daughter, Skye.

McCammons books have been compared favorably
to works by Stephen King and Peter Straub. In January of 1997,
McCammon had completed his novel Speaks the Nightbird.
This historical tale is set in 1699 in the Carolina Colony, and
involves a witch trial. McCammon traveled to Williamsburg to
research both the times and the language.

T.S.
Stribling
Writer, Florence

T.S. Stribling, one of the better known Alabama
writers of the first part of the century, was born in 1881 in
Clifton, Tennessee. The greater part of his life was spent in
North Alabama, studying at the Normal College of Florence (now
the University of North Alabama), and the University
of Alabama. He received a law degree in 1905, returned to
Florence to practice at the bar, and remained tthat town's resident
for the rest of his life.

After teaching school and traveling, Stribling
turned to the literary life in 1921, working for newspapers and
magazines, writing adventure stories, detective fiction, and
several novels: Birthright (1922), Teeftallow (1926)
Bright Metal (1928) and Backwater (1930)

Regardless of the genre, Stribling's writings
often involve small town politics, the racial divisions of the
Deep South, or big business. Using social satire, Stribling explored
the themes of prejudice and injustice long before the time of
the Civil Rights movement. His most famous works are referred
to as his North Alabama trilogy. The Forge (1931), The
Store (1932) and Unfinished Cathedral (1938) attempt
to paint a real picture of the South and record its history for
future generations. The Store, set in the Florence of
1884- 85, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1933.

Though his writing career slowed in the later
years of his life, Stribling continued to produce novels and
short stories. He taught novel writing at Columbia University
in 1946 and 1950, but always returned to Florence, where he died
in 1965.

The daughter of two college professors, Margaret
Walker was born in Birmingham in 1915. Her family included her
maternal grandmother, who moved with them to Mississippi, back
to Alabama, and then to New
Orleans. Walker's grandmother had begun her life as a slave
in Georgia, and her stories provided inspiration to young Margaret.

Langston Hughes read some of her poetry when
Margaret was just sixteen; he encouraged her to go north for
her education. Walker attended Northwestern University, graduated
in 1935, and worked from 1936 to 1939 in the Chicago-based Federal
Writers' Project, a branch of the WPA. In 1940, Walker received
an M.A. in creative writing from the University of Iowa. She
published her thesis as For My People (1942) a collection
of poetry. This collection brought her the Yale Younger Poets
Prize in 1942. Walker would later earn her Ph.D. from Iowa, as
well.

Walker's novel, Jubilee (1966), provides
a view of the Civil War and emancipation from the standpoint
of slaves. It is considered a groundbreaking work for its frank
depictions of slave life. Walker went on to publish three more
volumes of poetry, Ballad of the Free; Prophets for a New
Day, and October Journey. Walker's awards include
fellowships from the Ford and Rosenthal Foundations, as well
as the Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship and a Fulbright fellowship.

Walker taught from 1949 through 1979 at Jackson
State University in Jackson, Mississippi. She initiated a Black
Studies program at the school in the early 1970s, and Jackson
State has since created The Margaret Walker Alexander National
Research Center for African-American Studies.

Professor Emeritus of English at Jackson State,
Walker published a "psychobiography" of her friend
and fellow writer Richard Wright. Entitled Daemonic Genius:
A Portrait of the Man, the biography has received wide-spread
acclaim.

You may also want to check out this site on
Alabama
Women Fiction Writers ... Courtesy of
Carla B. Patterson
Floyd College, Director of Extended Learning